


It’s Alright, Dads here

by Ladsandlesbians



Series: Black Friday [1]
Category: Black Friday - Team StarKid, The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals - Team StarKid
Genre: AU, Alternate Reality, Domestic Fluff, Fluff, Nightmares, Oneshot, its basically the same story but they didn’t all get blown up at the end
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-28
Updated: 2020-03-28
Packaged: 2021-03-01 03:15:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,383
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23358385
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ladsandlesbians/pseuds/Ladsandlesbians
Summary: It’s been a couple of months since the Fosters moved into the Houston home where for the first time in their lives they feel safe. Lex however can’t shake what happened to her on Black Friday and keeps re visiting Lakeside Mall in her dreams.This is the first time I’m posting a story so I have no clue how any of it works. I wouldn’t have posted it at all but there’s barely any wholesome domestic  Black Friday stories at the moment so I’ve come to deliver.
Series: Black Friday [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1680040
Kudos: 25





	It’s Alright, Dads here

Maybe it was the stress from the day.

Maybe it was the stupid, pointless fight I had with Tom and Becky before storming up to me and Hannah’s room.

Maybe it was everything that had happened since Black Friday finally flooding freely through my mind as though every carefully built wall and dam had been shattered.

Whatever it was it had filled my head with vision of distorted soldiers holding out guns, Of spiders spinning their webs around Hannah, of Ethan laying battered, blackened and death on the ground, of my mother being crushed by endless nothing as she screamed herself into oblivion.

“LEX”  
Sherman Young’s face as I shot him. My fault.  
“LEX”  
My mother again, surrounded by bottles and smelling of retched piss. My fault.  
“LEX”   
Lakeside Mall smouldering and destroyed. My fault.  
“LEX”

A door slammed open and I was suddenly aware of the sweat and tears pouring down my face and of the screams that were tearing and twisting their way out from my raw and sore throat.

A light switched on and through the sudden blinding light I could see Tom and Becky in the doorway. Tom stepped forward towards my bed and I didn’t even think or stop to untangle myself from my sheets that had wrapped around me while I thrashed in my sleep. I stood up started and hugging him. Sobbing into his shoulders.

He wrapped his arms around me too and with suddenly I realised that this was the first time someone had hugged me, really hugged me. Sure Ethan has comforted me with his embrace and I had done the same to Hannah but this was different it felt exactly like how I always thought hugging a parent would feel like. It was warm, soft, strong and gentle all at the same time, I felt like if I could just stay like this forever then all the pain of Black Friday, of my mum, of whoever John McNamara was would fade away into the night. 

I peered over Tom’s shoulder to see Becky hugging Hannah tightly who had curled up into her lap with. Tears streaming down Hannah’s face as she babbled incomprehensibly. I realised with a jolt of pain that I must have triggered her into an attack.

After a second, or an hour, or fuck it even a century Tom spoke.   
“Lex are you alright? What happened” I had never heard him sound like this before his voice full of concern and worry.

“Bad- bad dream” I tried to explain but words were failing me “my mum... Ethan... Wiggly...” 

It was a pitiful explanation but Tom seemed to understand. 

Tom squeezed me tight “do you want to talk about it now, in a couple of minutes or later?” 

I remembered reading that exact line in a book about children with mental health issues, I had read it when Hannah had started having more frequent panic attacks. I then realised with yet another painful jolt that Tom must have read it after taking in me and Hannah.

“Later” I mumbled fully conscious now of the fact that Tim was now standing in the doorway, peering in to see what all the noise was.

“Okay” he said moving his hand to back of my head and gently kissing my temple.

After another couple of seconds I let go of him and he did the same. I went over to Hannah, stooped low and held her hand . 

“I’m sorry I scared you Banana, I just had a bad dream.”

She lifted her head gingerly from the crook of Becky’s neck 

“Mom, Black and White, Ethan, McNamara” she said her eyes brimming with tears again.

I could sense Tom and Becky looking confusedly at each other but I gave them no attention. 

“Yeah, I’m sorry Banana I didn’t mean to yell or frighten you, I just got a bit scared.”

“Webby said that you would be scared, Webby said that you wouldn’t understand.”

“Do you understand?” I asked slightly annoyed now though I’m sure it didn’t show in my already quavering voice. Who the fuck was Webby to tell my sister how I was feeling? Who the fuck was Webby to know how I felt in the first place? Who the fuck even was Webby?

Hannah was silent for a moment before shaking her head softly.

“That’s okay, we’ll figure this shit out together, won’t we Banana”

I looked at Becky who I thought for moment was about to chide me for my language but instead she raised her arm in an offer to embrace.

I accepted and myself, Hannah and Becky all stayed there, arms wrapped tightly around each other. Becky and Tom, for all their faults, gave great hugs.

After a while Hannah spoke “pillow”

I was still better at Hannah speak than the other two so I recognised this as meaning that Hannah wanted to lie down again. “Yeah sure Banana, I’ll tuck you in”

After Hannah was under the covers and drumming her fingers absentmindedly on her bedside cabinet Tom pulled me over to the other side of the room.

“You’re not going to school tomorrow” he said in a definite tone that made it clear, there was to be no arguing on this.

This was unexpected, Tom had been passionate about getting me back to school and had pulled a lot of strings for the school to accept me back.

“I don’t care” he put plainly, probably sensing my objection “I’ll say that you’ve got a bug. The school board knows that I’m looking after you so it won’t be an issue. I’ll take the day off work as well”

I felt my heart grow hot, why would anyone do something like that. The school board didn’t care that I had missed weeks of school before officially dropping out or that beforehand I was coming in hungover with bruises that my mum had given to me in her drunken rages. They just gave me poor attendance and moved along. It was the Hatchetfield way.

“You can stay home on one condition, you tell me what’s happening with you, tell me why you skipped school yesterday and tell me who the hell McNamara is, okay?”

I didn’t know what to say so I just copied him   
“Okay”

He kissed my forehead and hugged me again. 

“It’s gonna be okay Lex” he muttered “its alright, Dad’s here...”

As I climbed back into bed. Tom left to bring Tim back to his room and Becky came over and sat on the side of my bed, held my hand and started softly rubbing the pads of her fingers over my scarred knuckles.

It’s embarrassing to admit but I really liked that, was this how other kids got treated when they had nightmares? When I had nightmares as a child I would always go to Hannah who even though she never fully understood or could even talk much comforted me greatly.

When I got older I got Ethan who would listen to anything I had to say while soothingly running his fingers through my hair or if we weren’t in the same place would wake up at whatever time I called him to let me know that he cared.   
Now I was 17 and I had Tom and Becky. 

They had different ways of showing their care, ways I had never seen before. Making meals they knew I liked or letting me pick the Friday movie when they knew it had been a bad day or always asking how I felt but never pushing it when I didn’t want to talk about it.

I liked their ways.

I started timing my breaths to her gentle fingers on my hand and felt myself calmly slipping away into thoughts of good memories I’ve had in this house, with this family.

“I love you” was the last grumble that came from my mouth as I fell asleep, it was strange how that phrase came so easily now when I had been pondering and debating how and when to say it for weeks now.

My eyes drooped closed and my head emptied of thought, there was nothing in the world anymore. No Wiggly, No Mom, No John McNamara. Just the warmth in my chest and Becky’s hand in mine.


End file.
